


until we strike soundings

by meretricula



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: M/M, Missing Scene, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 07:41:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13095528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meretricula/pseuds/meretricula
Summary: While Menolly was off Impressing fire lizards and living holdless, it might have surprised her to learn that her brother and Half-Circle's new Harper were falling in love.





	until we strike soundings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rimedio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rimedio/gifts).



> They talked of other things then, until the fishing fleet returned — two men of the same age but different background: one with an inquisitive interest in the world beyond his Sea Hold, and the other quite willing to satisfy it.

  
Elgion had had few illusions of what his new life would be when he was posted to a remote, tradition-bound Sea Hold. He was a flexible man, and he knew that that, as much as his youth and enthusiasm, had recommended him to Robinton for an assignment that might under a different Masterharper might have gone to an older, more experienced harper. If he had thought he would lack the congenial society of the Harper Hall, it had not troubled him overly; he had always had a knack for fitting himself to the company in which he found himself.

He had not expected Alemi: had not expected that the cold, stiff Sea Holder could have produced such a warm and openminded son, nor that he might find a kindred spirit in Half-Circle after failing to make a lasting attachment in all his years at the Harper Hall, nor — if he was to be truly honest with himself — that a man as handsome and well-liked as Alemi would take an interest in him. It was no surprise to Elgion that the unmarried women of the hold all watched him sidelong in the Great Hall and offered assistance at the smallest opportunity, for he was a newcomer and young and the Harper, which held status anywhere but especially in the Sea Hold ruled by Yanus and his love of tradition, but Alemi as son of the Sea Holder surely had his pick of women as well. 

It was the unlooked-for pleasure of Alemi's company as much as Elgion's own desire to learn that prompted him to ask for sailing lessons. 

"Teach you to sail?" Alemi repeated, one eyebrow raised higher than the other: as much as to ask, _only_ to sail? Elgion smiled, enjoying the uncertain dance too much to end it by confirming his interest or Alemi's, and took as much genuine gratification in being taught to tack across the Harbor as he would have in certain other activities in Alemi's company. 

The quiet thrill of having a like-minded companion did not wane over the weeks of sailing lessons and far-ranging conversations. Elgion hardly knew why he still hesitated to make his desire plain to Alemi, whose eyes lingered hotly on him whenever they crossed paths, except that he felt obscurely that to speak would be to ruin the delicate understanding between them, which he prized too highly to risk. Why Alemi, so outspoken on every other subject, likewise held his silence with regard to the physical longing that crackled between them, Elgion could not guess. Perhaps he too feared to disrupt the balance between them; perhaps he too, as much as Elgion wondered at it, found their recently established friendship too precious to hazard it. When Elgion suggested a longer trip to the Dragon Stones, however, he knew from the glint in Alemi's eye that their ambiguous holding of the peace was at an end, and he found he could not regret it. Not when Alemi's words, though halting, were so much in accord with what was in his own heart; not when Alemi's mouth was so sweet.

> This time their silence was companionable, and when they exchanged glances, it was for remembered boyish fancies…

  
"I suppose that the Sea Holder would disapprove of this fashion of keeping our hands at work," Elgion said as he huddled into the curve where Alemi's arm met his body. The sea breeze was chill against the sweat drying on his back, but Elgion wanted to leave off his clothing until the last possible moment, wanted to remain in their little boat on the sea where they were not Harper and Sea Holder's son, but only Elgion and Alemi.

Alemi laughed deep in his chest, a gentle buzz of vibration that Elgion felt under his cheek. "If we confined ourselves to only the pleasures Yanus approved of, we would all lead dull and lonely lives, harper," he said. "I would not flaunt my gratification before him, to be sure, but give the Sea Holder what credit he deserves: he has no interest in our private lives, so long as they do not interfere with the running of the hold." 

"And your sister?" Elgion asked, greatly daring. "What offense did she commit against the running of the hold?" 

Alemi went still underneath him, in what Elgion was beginning to recognize as quiet but deeply-felt grief. "If she had been my brother? None at all. But Yanus is what he is, and for a girl to defy the place tradition and her Sea Holder assigned to her… I cannot defend him, but you must understand why he acted as he did." 

"I do understand," Elgion said. "But I hope that someday we will live to see a Pern where the Sea Holder assigns places according to ability and not only in keeping with tradition." 

"Perhaps," Alemi said. He fell silent after that, but his nearer hand stroked up and down Elgion's back, warming him without being asked. 

"Would you tell me about her?" Elgion said at last. "No one in the hold speaks of her, at least to me. You love her; I would like to know her." 

"Menolly is… stubborn," Alemi said after a long, thoughtful pause, and Elgion noted without changing expression the present tense, unsure whether it signified that Alemi thought her still alive or simply could not bear to think her dead. "Quiet, although who could say, she might have grown up louder than a wherry if she'd had a father other than Yanus. She feels everything too deeply — I should have done more to protect her. I knew… when she had Petiron, none of the rest mattered. He loved her like a daughter; he sheltered her from Yanus, and when he died… She loves music so much," he went on, his voice thickening. "I wish you could hear her sing." 

Elgion said nothing and burrowed closer to Alemi, seeking to comfort him with the warmth of his body when words could do nothing. As they clothed themselves once again and prepared to return to the Sea Hold, he resolved privately to seek out the cave where they had heard pipes at the soonest opportunity: partly in accordance with the Masterharper's directive, but mostly in response to Alemi's unacknowledged sorrow.

> "I myself told them you were safe, and a good thing, too. They were all ready to mount a search. Which, for old Yanus, is a remarkable concession." 
> 
> Elgion grimaced. "I suppose it wouldn't look well to lose two Harpers in a short time." 
> 
> "Nonsense. Already Yanus prizes you above fish! Or so Alemi said." 
> 
> "Was he angry?"
> 
> "Who? Yanus?" 
> 
> "No, Alemi." 
> 
> "Why? I'd say he was better pleased than Yanus to hear you were safe and scoreless at Benden."

  
"Are you angry with me?" Elgion asked, deciding on a direct approach. Alemi had escorted him back to his rooms once the Sea Holder's questions were answered, but the silence along the way had been broken only by the sound of crutches on stone. Now behind the privacy of a locked door, Elgion both longed and feared to know what he had to say.

"No," Alemi said. "I'm not angry." 

Elgion waited, but no further words were forthcoming. "You don't seem particularly happy to have me back in the hold." 

Alemi looked at him, then crutched his way over to Elgion's bed and sank down on it. "I thought you were dead," he said. "I thought you went out into Threadfall like my sister and the ground crews would look for your knife or belt buckle because nothing else would be left of you and I wouldn't even be able to join them on this useless leg of mine. I'm not angry. I was _frightened_." 

"I'm sorry," Elgion said immediately. "I didn't think. I'm sorry." He went over to the bed and sat, and helped Alemi shift, careful of his leg, until he was lying with his head in Elgion's lap. "I didn't even manage to find the cave before I had to run from Thread. But T'gellan will look now. The dragonriders are that serious about finding fire lizard eggs… but I suppose if a man found a clutch no one could criticize if he kept one for himself." 

"Dragonriders and their precious fire lizards can go hang, so long as you're safe," Alemi grated out, and reached up to pull Elgion's face down into a kiss. 

"I didn't know," Elgion said later, hiding his face against Alemi's shoulder while he struggled to find the correct words. "I didn't know it would be such a cause of grief to you, if something had happened to me." 

Alemi immediately went rigid, all the relaxation of their prior activities fleeing his body. "Have I given you cause to distrust me, harper?" he demanded. "Have I shown myself fickle or false? I would know the reason for your doubt." 

"Of course not, Alemi, don't be a fool. I only meant… what will happen, when your leg is healed?" 

"What will happen?" Alemi repeated, puzzled. "I will have two good legs again." 

"And will Alemi with two good legs, who can go where he pleases and sail when he likes, have the same use for a Harper as Alemi with only one?" 

"Alemi with two good legs will still love sailing, and the sea, and his stubborn Harper, who doubts him for no reason," Alemi said. "Elgion… seaholding is a harsh life. I would not deny myself any joy I could find in it, on one leg or two or none at all. I cannot promise you eternity, but I can promise you that. Is it enough?" 

"It will do," Elgion said, his voice wavering too much for his attempt at haughtiness to be successful, and allowed himself to be kissed until any remaining uncertainty was silenced. "You bring me joy as well, Alemi." 

Alemi smiled, and Elgion's heart turned over in his chest. "I shall endeavor to continue to do so."

> Alemi caught Elgion's eye, and the Harper had to suppress his grin: he'd share the full jest with Alemi later.

**Author's Note:**

> The blockquotes that start each scene are taken directly from the book, in case it isn't obvious; the title is a line from a sea shanty called Farewell and Adieu You Fair Spanish Ladies. Thank you, Rimedio, for giving me a reason to reread _Dragonsong_ and realize how in the background of the main story, Elgion and Alemi are totally falling in love.


End file.
